Holy Cross is blessed to have so many committed and involved parishioners supporting the parish’s outreach activities:

Church of the Advocate/Red Door Ministry

Every other month (2^nd Sunday of odd numbered months), parishioners and friends traveled to Asheville to deliver a much needed and appreciated hot meal to the homeless people of Asheville through the auspices of the Church of the Advocate/Red Door Ministry. In addition, we delivered warm clothing for the winter season and personal hygiene products donated by members of the parish. Geoff, Ellen, and Geoffrey Carey organize food preparation, while Craig Williams organizes the transport of donated food and items to Asheville. Although the pandemic limited our ability to provide hot meals in 2021, Holy Cross did provide food, two to three car loads of warm clothing and personal hygiene items, and, many hours of labor, all coordinated by the Careys’ and Williams’.

Thermal Belt Outreach (TBO) and Feed-A-Kid/Feed-A-Family

Holy Cross supports the mission of Thermal Belt Outreach in several ways. Four times a year, church youth shop for the TBO food pantry. The youth are given a list of needed items by TBO, they must figure out how to purchase the largest number of those items and stay within their $500 budget. After a pizza lunch to celebrate shrewd shopping, the youth stock the shelves at the food pantry. Youth shopping is coordinated by Sharol Ard, Paul Zimmerman, and Sam Doar. Holy Cross also supports the Feed-A-Kid/Feed-A-Family program at TBO. In 2021, Holy Cross organized two of the summer food distributions. Sue Luss and Sharol Ard shopped at Lidl and then they and 4 other volunteers packed 4 grocery bags per family. Two volunteer drivers from Holy Cross delivered the groceries to the distribution points. In addition, Holy Cross provided financial support to these programs.

Jo Key served as our TBO Ambassador in 2021; Barbara Salmon will be our TBO Ambassador for 2022 and Jo Key continues to check with TBO each week to see what they need then deliver weekly food donations from the congregation.

Kairos Prison Ministry at Tiger River Correctional Facility

Kairos is a multi-denominational prison ministry which operates across the country. Holy Cross supports the local Kairos group of 60-70 men led by Barrie Heinzenknecht. In 2021, Holy Cross supported the ministry’s cookie drive which collected thousands of dozen cookies for inmates, supported the Encouraging Letters to Inmates program, and provided assistance to recently released inmates. Due to the pandemic lockdown, Holy Cross was not able to provide the meals for our scheduled weekend of meals in May 2021. We hope to reschedule for late 2022.

Habitat for Humanity, Hendersonville Chapter

Habitat for Humanity provides housing to socio-economically disadvantaged individuals in the local community. Holy Cross members supported repair work on an existing home in Polk County and a new home build in Columbus, NC. Members helped with the “blitz build” which does all the interior and exterior framing in one day. Other members helped with the finish work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Habitat expects to complete the new home in Columbus, NC in 2022.

Operation Hope, Landrum, SC

Operation Hope is an ecumenical outreach ministry in Landrum, SC which provides assistance to community members in need. Holy Cross supported Operation Hope by holding two drives for requested food and personal items – Thanks4Giving and a Reverse Advent Calendar.

Led by the efforts of Joe Brown and Jan Horton, our congregation provided over 2000 lbs. of food and personal items in 2021.

Overseas Mission: E=H

Education Equals Hope (E=H) is a non-profit international educational ministry founded by Cameron Vivanco, which exists to provide for the education of students in desperate and difficult situations: poverty, extreme poverty, women coming out of prostitution, human trafficking, and young men coming off the streets. Cameron and her husband, Roberto, are missionaries with the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders (SAMS); their home church is St Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Spartanburg, SC, but they are based in Ecuador.